Island Of The Storms
by TheGrudge154
Summary: After a trip to a lost land from Viking legend ends in disaster, Hiccup returns to find Berk under threat from unnaturally powerful storms. Will he dare set foot back on the island he thinks is responsible? Rated T for violence, reviews appreciated.
1. A Stupid Idea

**How To Train Your Dragon:  
****Island of the Storms**

**Chapter 1: A Stupid Idea**

For the last time, it's not magic!"  
"But how does it stay hidden like that?"  
"It has to be a trick, you can't bend metal! Especially not you, Hiccup..."  
"Besides, in order to bend metal, you need to have a strength of +10 or more as well as..."  
"It's not bending the metal, it's really simple! All you have to do is press the little thing at the side here and..."  
FLICK!  
The blade of the small knife gleamed as it spun from it's hiding place in the weapon's handle and into view, making some of the group twitch a little in surprise. The object was small with a bright wood handle, a carving of a dragon wing engraved into the side. A small part of the handle pushed outwards like a button, allowing the blade to swing free when it was pressed. It was definitely ideal for carrying a usable weapon easier and also to fool others into thinking you were unarmed (and from the knife's owner's perspective, it wasn't too hard to fool a Viking). However, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was having trouble explaining his new invention to the other Vikings at battle training.  
"All I'm saying is that it's stupid to have one of these things anyway" Snotlout grumbled as the group walked. "You don't need to_ hide _a knife. We're Vikings, man! All you need a big sword and some bravery!"  
"Oh yeah, like you ever had any of that, Snotlout!" Tuffnut laughed aloud, trying to make a joke.  
"He's got more than you, hotshot..." Ruffnut mumbled, giving her brother a punch in the arm to shut him up. Astrid smiled at Hiccup, glancing down at the knife before back to him.  
"Well, I kind of like it actually. Looks pretty cool, especially the handle. And at least it's a change from the usual giant battle-axes and hammers" she said in a polite tone. Hiccup smiled back at her, as a thank for trying to be nice about his work, as they kept heading towards the battle ring tower.

Usually after practicing combat with each other, the group would sit with their teacher, Gobber The Belch, around the fire on top of the arena for feedback of their technique and some food for the evening. It wasn't usually Hiccup's favourite part of this new training as his skills in normal combat were still much less than those of dragon taming. And because of that, there was usually a lot of criticism directed his way. As the group sat around the log seats, Gobber stumped with heavy thuds into the ground with his prosthetic leg, sitting down on one of the logs heavily. He turned to the group, throwing down his hammer-arm attachment and handing out hunks of meat and fish on sticks to roast over the fire.  
"Right! First things first! Some good efforts today. Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut. You all showed some good technique with your axes as well as the combination with the shields. Fishlegs, not a bad effort, just try to be a bit more brave when it comes to attacking back and you'll get it. Astrid, excellent as always, you've shown a lot of agility with the new weapons and a lot of good ideas for attack strategies..."  
The Viking paused as he turned to the least experienced of the group.  
"And, Hiccup...eh, well done Hiccup!"  
Hiccup's mouth fell open a little.  
"Well done? That's IT?"  
"Yeah! Not much else to say really..." Gobber said, trying to move onto another subject as quickly as possible. Hiccup sighed and took an annoyed bite out of his fish. Probably a well done for not being killed by the other students most likely. Still, it would be expected after a sessions of trying to kill each other without actually trying to kill each other. Well, that's how Gobber put it. A confusing term, but it sort of worked. Sort of.

The group began to chow down, the twins already beginning to argue amongst one another over one of them having a larger portion than the other. So, same old routine. Astrid gave an encouraging smile and playfully thumped Hiccup on his shoulder. He winced a little at the hit with a light exclamation of "Ow!", Luckily, a sound behind him reminded him of someone who wouldn't be too concerned about his battle technique. A sniffing from behind him was the only warning he got before a jet black jaw suddenly loomed over his shoulder and ripped the fish straight from the stick, crunching loudly through the bones. The suddenness of the action made Hiccup almost jump out of his skin.  
"Toothless! By Thor's hammer, give me some warning bud!"  
Toothless gulped down the fish and looked at Hiccup with innocent eyes, not sure what he had done to make his human so surprised. Apparently the smell of roasted fish was too tempting not to snatch. Hiccup simply chuckled and scratched under the Night Fury's chin. The other Vikings looked up at the commotion, causing Snotlout to frown and speak up.  
"Hey! No dragons at dinner! I can't have mine sat here with me, why should you?"  
"Um, because yours has a habit of setting itself on fire?" Hiccup suggested. Snotlout hesitated in an answer.  
"Still, the rule stands! Get him out of here or I'll..."  
Toothless' pupils narrowed and he let out a threatening snarl. Snotlout's attitude changed accordingly.  
"...I'll ask it politely before giving up! Yeah..."  
Hiccup smiled and patted Toothless on his front leg. The Night Fury settled down and sat down fully next to his human with a content purr. His head twisted behind him for a moment and, after a little rustling, strangely turned back with a fish tail hanging from his mouth. Hiccup instantly frowned at the dragon.  
"Toothless, did you take a bag of fish from the port and bring it here again?"  
Toothless froze for a second before quickly chomping on the rest of the fish and swallowing. He promptly shook his head. Hiccup sighed.  
"Look, just don't do it, OK? I can give you fish whenever you want it, but you don't have to take it! Besides, I'm already in trouble for last time"  
The dragon seemed to understand as he lightly nodded his head, just as Gobber banged the stump of his arm on the log seats.  
"Right, so now that we have today's evaluation out of the way, I think it's time I told you all another Viking legend..."  
The twins, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Astrid all groaned simultaneously. Gobber now had a habit for telling old stories about Berk like a history lesson. Most of which was nothing really interesting, even if some of the stories involved some sort of bloody battle. Hiccup seemed to be the only one who didn't mind a good story now and then. But it was common knowledge that most of the younger Vikings weren't exactly open to their village's history.  
"Ah, quit your moaning you lot!" Gobber growled. "I have a feeling you'll like this one. Especially those of you who like a bit of a mystery..."  
The group's attention was grabbed by the last word of Gobber's sentence. Mystery? Usually Gobber's stories were resolved by the end and were too unlikely to be true. Maybe this one wouldn't be so bad after all. Gobber cleared his throat as the group stared at him intrigued as Toothless looked at the group, curious about what had made the humans stop their grumbling.

"Now, this tale goes back many years into Viking history. So far back that I'd actually almost forgotten it myself...anyway, it's a really old story.  
"Not far off of the coast of this very island our village rests on lies a small piece of land covered in a lush forest of strange and exotic plants. No man had ever set foot there before until the very first Viking settlers came here in their ships. After they had established what would eventually become our village, they noticed this mysterious island as a faint spot on the horizon. They decided to set sail to find out for themselves what sat on that land, armed with nothing but their bravery, a few hundred warriors and many various weapons of forged steel.  
"It's written that the settlers journeyed towards the island in their ships and were almost capsized through a combination of terrible wind, gigantic waves and, worst of all, a shortage of decent battle axes and shields! The economic pressures at the time, you see. Thinking about that last part always makes me shudder...any who, onwards they went until they finally reached the island. The story tells of the island making strange noises from inside those trees. Back then, dragons weren't that well documented, so they had no idea what to expect!"

The group stared with interest until Fishlegs spoke up.  
"What did they find there?"  
"Well, that's just the thing. Apparently, they did find something inside that forest. Something that is supposed to be powerful...so powerful in fact that they never bothered to write down what it was!"Thanks to the giant anti-climax, the group's former moans resurfaced.  
"Well that was a big letdown!" Tuffnut said aloud.  
"Aren't they usually?" Hiccup mumbled with a mouthful of food.  
"What kind of story is that? All build up and no proper conclusion?" Ruffnut agreed. Tuffnut paused and stared at her puzzled.  
"Oh, come on! I don't find listening to or reading stories as much of a mental challenge as you do!" she said angrily.  
Snotlout interjected before they could start with interest.  
"So, this island...is it still around now?"  
"Well, I'm pretty sure land can't just get up and walk, so yeah. It probably is" Gobber answered with a crunch of bone in his mouth. "But no-one's even tried to get to the place on account of the weather near those parts. Given it the nickname "Island of the Storms" you see, 'cause you'd be a dead man sailing if you tried to get there by boat! There's said to be waves as tall as mountains, lightning powerful enough to tear ship hulls asunder!". He paused for a minute after glancing at a nervous Fishlegs' expression before toning down the terror. "Anyway, the map leading to it has been lost for generations, too caught up in the whole dragon affair you see. And that's enough about it! Eat up before the Night Fury gets it! Come on!"

* * *

The group began to discuss amongst themselves what the island could possibly have contained as they ate. Even Toothless was curious about what the Viking group was talking about, shifting himself into a more comfortable position to listen. Even if he didn't fully understand what was coming out of their mouths. Fishlegs hypothesised it was some sort of energy source that could have powered insane technologies that Hiccup could have only dreamed, Tuffnut started bragging how it was part of the world's most deadly weapon (AKA himself) whereas Snotlout was lost in thought, preferring to think about it rather than contribute to the group's discussion. He began to form his own idea as the rest of his fellow students moved onto more trivial topics of which shield was more ideal to take a blow from a spike and chain ball, that sort of thing. It was an idea that many would consider foolish but something that the young Viking considered a decent proposal for his already large ego to be boosted. Plus it may even get him a date with a certain girl that had been shrugging off his attempts to impress. It was perfect!  
Snotlout smiled to himself and stood up unexpectedly, causing the group to stare at him.  
"Hey, uh, I just remembered I have something to take care of at home. Nothin' too much for me to handle, I'll just be going to…go do that…now. So...catch you later!"  
Snotlout quickly proceeded to drop his roasted meal and run off down the stairs leading to the village. The rest of the Vikings stared after him, confused as to his sudden departure. This was not like Snotlout at all, especially when it came to stories of bravery with which he would usually brag he could do a better job than the characters in question. Tuffnut glanced back to the group with a raised eyebrow.  
"What's his problem? I know Snotlout's never good with remembering things to do outside of battle training".  
"A lot of things by my reckoning..." Gobber mumbled. "Oh well, his loss" he exclaimed, taking a bite out of his fish with a crunch. Ruffnut looked at Astrid with a slight grin. The young girl has a relieved look on her face, glad to be finally rid of Snotlout. Ruffnut's grin widened as she spoke.  
"You know, Astrid, I saw him look at you before he ran off...HA! A perfect pair if I ever did see one!"  
"Shut up! I'm just glad he's gone. At least he's not bragging around here anymore..."  
Astrid hadn't had the best of relationships with Snotlout recently. More so than before, he had been trying to impress her and get her attention with complex battle moves and strategies. Most of the time, he failed, only making Astrid think he was trying too hard. Besides, he was being so persistent, it was getting very tiresome indeed. To Astrid, it was hoped that Snotlout would take a very long time with whatever he had to do at home.  
Hiccup was also confused by Snotlout's behaviour, but quickly put it out of his mind after Ruffnut's statement. She was probably right, he had been surprisingly constant in his attempts to impress. Toothless, however, had more pressing issues on his mind. He stood up and quickly moved into Snotlout's seat, sniffing his dropped fish with interest. Hiccup glanced over as his dragon took a bite with a satisfied crunch, smiling as Toothless looked back at him to make sure he hadn't done something wrong. But for some very odd reason, Ruffnut's comment came back to Hiccup's head, no matter how hard he tried to think of other things. They'd just heard a story about somewhere no-one had ever attempted to try and reach for generations, he'd been trying to prove how tough he was so much recently and he had just left unexpectedly. If Snotlout was trying to impress Astrid and the group, then would he...?  
"Nah, he wouldn't...he talks tough a lot, but he wouldn't be that stupid..." Hiccup mumbled to himself before taking on a dry tone. "Then again, it is Snotlout". Tuffnut was quick to interject again as he overheard Hiccup's words.  
"What, you think he's gone to that island? Well, I have seen him do a lot of stupid things. Besides, I have to live with stupidity so it's easy to spot!" he said with a chuckle whilst motioning to his sister.  
"Yeah, he's right Hiccup. He's had to live with his own stupidity for so long he's an expert on recognizing it in others..." Ruffnut said with a satisfying smirk. Her twin didn't take kindly to it.  
"Say that again, I dare you!"  
"Well, seeing as how you asked nicely..."  
"Hey, twins! Keep it clean!" Gobber yelled. "What is this, the 5th time today?"  
"Well, if you're right, then some of that stupidity's passed onto you!"  
"Nah, I'm way too smart to be affected by an idiot like you!"  
"Will you two knock it off? Geez..." Astrid said with a sigh.  
"It's moments like this that make me glad I'm an only child..." Hiccup mumbled.

* * *

"Some good work tonight, I look forward to seeing more tomorrow! Stay safe, you lot. Especially you, Hiccup!"

The group descended the stairs after finishing up their meal, the twins still choosing to continue their argument as they headed one way for home. Fishlegs frantically tried to keep up in order to be some sort of referee in the conflict as Hiccup, Toothless and Astrid headed the other way towards their own homes. As Hiccup walked with a hand on Toothless' side, he glanced upwards at the stars as his mind journeyed backwards. It had been a night similar to this one when he had taken Astrid for a ride on Toothless for the first time and it was a night he always thought of when the stars were clear and the winds were calm. Coincidentally, Astrid was having similar thoughts as she grinned at the twinkling lights in the stars, their faint glow taking her back to that flight which seemed only yesterday. It had changed her perception of what she had been brought up with, it had changed her minds of dragons and it had changed her mind on Hiccup. Glancing over at the one she had shared that flight with, Astrid was about to take Hiccup's hand and mention her thoughts about it. However, when Hiccup suddenly had a troubled look on his face, Astrid quickly snapped out of her recollection and picked up on it.  
"Hiccup? What's up?".  
His response was started with a slight pause.  
"Astrid, you don't think 'Lout went off to that island do you?"  
Astrid was surprised he would ask such a thing. Why was Hiccup worried about that jerk all of a sudden?  
"Well, I doubt it. Like you said, he talks big but I don't think he'd_ actually _run off by himself just to prove a point. He'll probably come to training tomorrow claiming he went there. Besides, that place is just a legend and very exaggerated one at that. You know how Gobber gets with his stories..."  
"That may be, but you remember how the Boneknapper thing went! There was at least some truth to that, wasn't there?"  
"An exception to the rule, I think" Astrid said with a matter-of-fact tone. "I mean, do you really believe that a hammerhead yak came flying out of molten lava and tried to eat a dragon like the Boneknapper? Anyway, the point is that that story is just a story and Snotlout wouldn't go somewhere that's said to be as dangerous as the Island of the Storms on his own. So there's no need to worry, right? Besides, he's been acting stupid lately so I'm in no position to worry about his welfare…"  
"I suppose you're right. I just...I dunno" Hiccup said with a shrug. "I just have a feeling that Gobber's stories of adventure are just filling some of our heads with stupid ideas, particular 'Lout and the twins"  
"Well, you've had your share of stupid ideas, haven't you?" she replied with a grin.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiccup asked in defiance. He was suddenly interrupted by a nudge from his side. Toothless bumped into Hiccup's hip with his nose, eager to get indoors as a chilly gust of wind suddenly blew in from the sea and into the village, making the Night Fury shiver. Even though he had lived through many types of weather in the wild, Toothless liked nothing more than to curl up by the fire with Hiccup on a cold night and the wind was doing nothing more than heighten that desire. However, his attention grabbing didn't have the exact desired effect.  
"Toothless, watch it!" he exclaimed, catching himself before he fell. "I'm still not used to this leg yet, I have balance issues!"  
"Isn't that the same excuse you were using for your failures in battle training today?" Astrid chuckled.  
"Oh, come on! Why did you say that, I didn't do anything to...OW!"  
Hiccup winced as Astrid playfully punched him in the arm.  
"That's for being a klutz"  
"And while that's appreciated, a simple goodnight would have been just fine"  
Astrid grinned and quickly pecked Hiccup on his cheek with a shy smile, causing the young Viking to blush.  
"And that's for being a likable one"  
Hiccup was lost for words for a moment.  
"Uh, I, um...th-thank you but…is a punch really necessary before you do that?". Astrid laughed and gave Toothless a quick scratch under his chin, causing him to purr, before waving and running off towards her house. Hiccup looked after her with a goofy smile, prompting Toothless to nudge him again and snap out of his stupor.  
"Oh, sorry bud! We better get inside before the winds come through again and we both freeze". Toothless growled in agreement and headed inside the house with Hiccup for the night. Hiccup glanced back over at Astrid, grinning to himself before going inside.

Apparently, having "raw Viking-ness" contained had it's advantages…

* * *

The next day, it was business as usual for the Vikings in training. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were already attempting to bludgeon each other to death using the edges of their shields whilst Fishlegs was opting to read over one of his favourite books instead of get in on the bloodshed. Astrid stood at the entrance to the battle ring, a puzzled and worried look on her features. Snotlout hadn't shown up for practice today. No sweeping entrances claiming feats of bravery, no attempts to show off his strength and talents to impress her. He never showed up in the first place. Astrid's head kept thinking back to Gobber's story yesterday. The story of that island…had Snotlout really been that stupid as to go there? Just to prove a point?  
But it was kind of silly. Why was she getting worried about it? Snotlout was Snotlout after all and she couldn't care less if that arrogant, big-headed, sludge bucket had gone to look at doom in the eye and pull a stupid face. Still, part of her couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, like it was partially her fault because of his attempts to impress.  
Worse still, Hiccup hadn't shown up either. And, knowing Hiccup's curiosity about things and attempts to understand them (he had been the first to actually _tame _a Night Fury after all), it was possible he could've gone too…which made her even more anxious.  
Tuffnut was the first to notice after finally taking a break from attempting to kill his twin.  
"What's up, Astrid? Worried your boyfriend isn't turning up? Hahaha-OOF!"  
As Tuffnut was cut off by a hit to his gut, Gobber was quick to express his dissatisfaction with his student's effort.  
"Tuffnut, I've told you before! Keep your guard up and your mouth shut or you'll break your shin...again!"  
"Either that or I'll break it for him…" Astrid mumbled under her breath.  
"Sorry, Astrid" Ruffnut exclaimed triumphantly. "But maiming my brother is a privilege reserved only for me!"  
Astrid huffed and tapped her foot impatiently. Where the heck was Hiccup? Lucky for her, the young Viking was soon bounding down the bridge leading to the area, clumsily trying to carry an axe, helmet and shield all in one go without dropping it. As he approached, relief soothed Astrid's nerves as she observed Hiccup almost trip over himself as he approached. The sign of a smirk on Astrid's face made Hiccup drop his equipment in annoyance.  
"What? You think it's easy to carry all this stuff on a metal foot?"  
"I didn't say anything…"  
"That expression doesn't convince me otherwise…" Hiccup said dryly as he glanced over at the twins. Ruffnut was on her back, defending herself from Tuffnut's blows until they both began to toss their weapons aside and have a good old fashioned wrestle.  
"You're going down, troll-breath!"  
"I'd like to see you tr-OOOWWW! I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"  
Hiccup's expression went blank.  
"OK, I'm not even going to ask…hey, where's 'Lout? I don't see him here"  
"That's because he's not" Astrid said with a sigh. "He hasn't shown up yet…"  
"Really? No 'I'm Snotlout, the greatest warrior ever' or 'Hey, Astrid, look at me!'?"  
Astrid shook her head. The fact that he still hadn't shown up was still worrying to her and now Hiccup was beginning to become concerned.  
"Hey! Has anyone seen Snotlout today?"  
"Nope, can't say I have…" Tuffnut said as he got up with a wince. Fishlegs looked up from his reading and simply shrugged before being reengaged with acts about the deadliest dragons that lived on mountain tops. Gobber spoke up from the sidelines at seeing that no-one knew where his most "enthusiastic" student was.  
"Well, I hope someone has because I don't like lateness! It's not good for remembering battle techniques if you don't even turn up in the first place, is it?"  
"To be honest Gobber, if Snotlout's done what I think he's done, missing battle techniques will be the least of his problems"  
Hearing this made the twins actually stop their bickering (for once) and come over to Hiccup and Astrid.  
"What? You actually think he didn't show up to try and find that storm island thing?"  
"Island of the Storms, actually…" Fishlegs corrected.  
"Look, it's just a possibility, but let's not jump to conclusions" Astrid assured them. "Remember, he can't even get there by ship according to the story"  
"But what about his dragon? I'm pretty sure rough seas can't affect something that can fly, right?" Hiccup asked.  
"What's he need his dragon for?" Tuffnut exclaimed. "If Snotlout's so brave to go there, he'll have used a boat to try to get to the Island just to prove how "tough" he is"  
"As much as I hate to admit it, my dim-witted brother is right" Ruffnut agreed. "Knowing Snotlout, that'd be exactly what he'd do"  
"Oh, me and my big mouth…" Gobber muttered with a slap to his forehead. "We've got to go find him before he does something stupid…well, even more stupid than this!"  
"No problem, me and Astrid can go pick him up and we'll be back in time for a traditional Viking meal of wild boar, shouting and mug bashing"  
"Well, how are you going to get there?" Tuffnut asked. "And how do you know where to start looking?"  
"We'll fly there" Hiccup replied. "Toothless can get above the clouds if there's a storm on the way there, we'll take careful looks beneath every so often to have a look for land and, if the legends are to be believed, then there should be a lot of storms around that place. It'll be easy to spot, right?"  
Gobber walked over with heavy metallic thuds into the ground in order to join in on the conversation.  
"Now are you sure about this, lad? I don't to be making you another prosthetic limb. Not only doest take up a lot of my free time, which I'm still a little bit annoyed at by the way, but another grievous injury is not something you need!"  
"Believe me, I'd rather keep at least one leg attached, but we'll be fine. We'll just go and pick up 'Lout then come back! We can't just leave him there, can we?"  
"We can't?"  
The group glared at Ruffnut with a scowl.  
"What?"  
"Anyway…" Astrid interrupted with a scowl "We should get going, just in case any storms develop into something too dangerous"  
"Well, better you than us…" Tuffnut said, receiving a light elbow from his sister for the comment.  
"What he means is…good luck" Ruffnut said with an encouraging smile. Hiccup smiled back at her and turned to Gobber.  
"Oh! One last favour. Could you keep this between us, Gobber? I don't Dad to have a panic attack over all this…  
"Way ahead of you, my lips are sealed. But, you can expect him to become suspicious if you're not back soon. You know how he is…" the old Viking said with a grin. "Anyway, be careful. BOTH of you. Tell the same to that dragon o' yours too!"


	2. To The Island

**How To Train Your Dragon:  
****Island Of The Storms**

**Chapter 2: To The Island**

Toothless was busy enjoying his morning down near the docks. A long comfy sleep with Hiccup had left him very refreshed and the calm breeze coming in from the sea had helped wake him up gently and rather nicely. But it had also made him quite hungry and, with no Hiccup around to have a morning snack with, Toothless had to try and find new ways to get breakfast. Luckily, the docks had always provided him with the best fish and saved him having to do any effort to get them himself. Carp, Icelandic cod, salmon (his personal favourite)…they were all here! And not a single eel in sight, which was an added bonus. Toothless sniffed at the hunk of freshly caught fish to take in the aroma, occasionally looking over to his side to see whether Hiccup was nearby. Even though he'd been told not to, the smell of his favourite meal was too tempting to just leave there. He quickly snatched a piece of cod in his jaw and swallowed it in a single bite, licking his lips with a sense of satisfaction that he'd gotten away with it. However, Toothless' disobeying of instructions was halted midway through a bite as his ear twitched at a sound. Looking over to his left, he saw Hiccup and Astrid running over to him. He wasn't sure why they were in such a hurry to find him. Maybe they'd seen him sneaking away the fish? Hoping it wasn't the case, Toothless put on his best innocent look as his rider and friend came up to him with their saddle under his arm and wearing his riding vest.  
"Toothless, there you are! What are you up to down here?"  
Toothless hesitated for a second before motioning to the sea and taking in a big breath.  
"Oh, getting some sea air in you, huh?"  
Toothless nodded in agreement.  
"Well, I hope that's made you feel awake and ready to go. We're going on a little trip, bud"  
The dragon cocked his head in a questioning look. Where would they be going now? Besides, the two of them were usually gone most of the day as part of a routine, so it was very out of the ordinary. Hiccup acknowledged his friend's puzzled expression with a grin.  
"It's nothing major, we just need to go pick someone up who's gotten a little lost…"  
"A little?" Astrid quipped.  
"OK, maybe a bit more than that, but still!"  
Toothless seemed to understand the gist of what they were saying. Even though he wasn't exactly sure why they were having to leave, he suddenly began to feel rather excited at the prospect of getting to fly again.  
Toothless didn't have as many chances to spend some flying time with Hiccup because he was always having to leave for "training". Whatever that was. But in any case, Toothless had become giddy, his wings already moving around as if he would take off there and then as he jumped around his rider with anticipation. Which was making it difficult to put on the saddle and tail apparatus for Hiccup.  
"Toothless, just calm dow-OOF! Hey, watch where you swing that-OW! Come on, stay still for me, bu-OUCH! And the tail in the face again…lovely"  
The Night Fury paused for a minute and looked back at Hiccup, stopping his sudden movements with an apologetic croon. Hiccup simply smiled and jumped onto Toothless' back.  
"Wow, the sea air must've worked wonders, huh?"  
"He definitely looks excited to get going. Which is fine by me" Astrid commented with a smile. Hiccup quickly attached his metal leg into the apparatus, testing it to make sure the fin extended and tilted how it was supposed to before holding out an arm for Astrid to get up. Astrid took his hand and clambered up onto the saddle behind Hiccup.  
"So, how are we even going to find this place?"  
"Judging by Gobber's story? Look for storms. Big ones. I dunno, we'll see how we go. You ready, bud?"  
Toothless crouched low to the ground in order to begin a run up and growled softly for an answer. Hiccup quickly turned back to Astrid.  
"You may want to hang on!" he said with a chuckle.  
"Oh, I'm aware of that from when I was almost thrown off the first time..." Astrid said a raised eyebrow. She extended her arms and wrapped them around Hiccup's waist, making the young Viking boy blush a little at her touch. Through his newly formed grin, Hiccup quickly shook his head to focus and prepared himself for the take off.  
"OK, bud, let's go!"

Toothless didn't hesitate. He sprang his powerful legs forwards, dashing towards the edge of the docks before extending his wings outwards. As Hiccup extended the tail fin, Toothless suddenly bolted upwards into the air, the wind currents under his wings rising the 3 of them off the ground. Astrid glanced down below them as Berk became smaller and smaller, gripping Hiccup a little tighter to make sure she didn't fall. Hiccup turned his head back again and gave her an encouraging smile, before angling Toothless' tail fin to turn towards to the open sea. They were soon as a cruising altitude, Toothless occasionally beating his wings to keep them aloft. He turned his head back and focused one of his eyes on Hiccup, indicating for directions on where to go. Hiccup scanned the horizon. Nothing but clear, blue sea and the occasional group of clouds could be seen. This was going to be harder than he thought.  
"Well, I don't see any storms…you see anything, Astrid?"  
"Not yet" she replied.  
"OK, bud, let's go a little higher OK?"  
Toothless angled his wings as they ascended higher and higher. Passing through the clouds, they were now flying over a sea of them, the sun illuminating them to a crisp pink colour. Still, no storms or dark clouds could be seen, even Toothless was having trouble spotting anything.  
"You'd think we'd have a better view from up here" Astrid said aloud as she looked around again. "There's no…hey, what's that? Over there!"  
Following where Astrid was pointing, Hiccup could suddenly see a huge mass of grey, not far from the coast of Berk from what he could tell. He could already guess the sea was going to be very choppy down there and small flashes of light in the thick clouds also indicated lightning. If there was an Island of the Storms, it was probably going to be there.  
"Where the heck did that come from?"  
"No idea. I swear it was clear just a minute ago…" Astrid said as she peered as the storm. Hiccup nodded to himself and pointed towards the storm.  
"Toothless, head towards there, OK? We'll take a little look below to see if we can spot the island"  
Almost unsurprisingly, Toothless was hesitant to follow the instruction. He had always tried to avoid flying through storms in the past when he was a wild dragon. Flying conditions were never ideal and the threat of lightning hitting you was always present, even for someone as fast as him. Not to mention he had never attempted to do such a thing with Hiccup to help him. Instead of getting ready to move down, Toothless whimpered nervously and didn't even attempt to change his wing angle to descend. Hiccup could see his dragon's discomfort and gently patted Toothless on the shoulder.  
"I know, bud. I'm not gonna like it anymore than you will. But I promise, it'll only be a really short look and then we'll go back up, OK? Doesn't have to be long, we'll be alright"  
Toothless crooned at Hiccup's words, facing up to his nerves and angling his wings to be ready to descend. Hiccup had to admit he was nervous too. Having never flown through a storm before, but having experienced plenty on Berk, he was well aware of what they were capable of doing. He scratched Toothless to comfort him before turning back to Astrid.  
"Hold on, this could get bumpy…"  
Astrid nodded and gripped tightly onto his waist as she saw Toothless begin to descend. They began to pass through the rose coloured tint of the clouds and into the more grey and darker collection in front of them. Hiccup narrowed his eyes and braced himself for anything. His caution was a wise thing to do.

Toothless was suddenly thrown off to his left as a massive gust of wind threw him off balance when they breached the bottom of the clouds. He roared in shock as he tried to regain his balance and keep his human passengers on his back. A last minute adjustment to the tail fin from Hiccup forced him up to a level balance. They weren't level for long however as Toothless began to swerve left and right to avoid the huge crashing waves beneath them. Rain collided into their faces as thick as an actual hail storm and the huge waves beneath them were already soaking the 3 of them through. Hiccup's eyes were already stinging and Astrid was having to hold her head down just to be able to open her eyes. What in Odin's name was this kind of storm?  
"I think the island's definitely earned it's name!" Hiccup shouted over the noise.  
"I can't see any island!" Astrid yelled. "I can't see anything!"  
Toothless roared again as the top of a wave collided into his right wing and, once again, almost sent him spinning. Hiccup could feel his dragon physically shivering through the intense weather all around them and it wasn't showing any signs of letting up.  
"Hang on, buddy! Just a little longer, you're doing great!"  
A sudden flash of lightning flared into life on the groups' left, slamming into the sea with a mighty boom. Astrid screamed in surprise.  
"That was a little too close!" she shouted. "Where the heck is this island? It's going to kill us before we even get there!"  
"I know, just hang on a bit longer! I think I can see something in front of us!"  
"Besides the lightning, a face-full of water and freezing wind?"  
Hiccup squinted at the outline he could see. A thick mass of green, right in the middle of the sea. The area surrounding it was very bright, much too bright to be part of a storm. It had to be the island!  
"Look, there! I think that's it!"  
Toothless exclaimed aloud in anxiety. Hiccup had said a short look! This was taking forever! Or at least it felt like it. Hiccup patted Toothless again as encouragement and pointed towards the mass of land ahead.  
"Alright, quick as you can towards there, OK?"  
Toothless was too happy to oblige. He folded his wings inwards and increased his speed towards the island. The rain still slammed into his eyes, making it difficult to see where it was he flying to. But Toothless trusted Hiccup's words without question and kept heading forwards. Hiccup couldn't see a thing and he was positive he had been soaked enough for his bones to become wet. He braced himself for anything that could go wrong as they neared the island.  
'Just a little further, Toothless, keep going!' he thought to himself. Another crash of lightning signalled a bolt above them and the Night Fury barely managed to avoid his tail getting scorched by the searing stream of electricity. The storm was too ferocious, they were flying blind, they were going to crash, they were going to go down…down...down...

And then, as suddenly as it had thrown itself upon them, the storm died out. Literally metres away from the island, the clouds had vanished, the rain had stopped and the wind had disappeared and left behind only a light breeze. The only indication of any sort of storm were the 3 soaked individuals who had braved the chaos of it mere seconds before. Hiccup and Astrid raised their heads to look around in amazement. The clouds had become a light shade of silver, even the sun had managed to cast a yellowish glow through the gaps in the sky. It was so strange, no storm ever died out like that. Especially not one as insane as that one. However, at that moment, Hiccup and Astrid were counting their blessings for not being taken down by it as they gently landed on the sandy beach of the island. As Toothless landed, he was quick to try and shake off the water clinging to his scales, accidentally throwing off Hiccup and Astrid in the process. The two Vikings tumbled to the ground, their clothes and hair completely drenched from the rain. Astrid fell on top of Hiccup with a bump as Toothless shook a spray of water all over them. Astrid looked at Hiccup with a look of embarrassment before quickly pushing herself to her feet with a clearing of her throat. Hiccup chuckled and stood up, brushing himself down before attempting to wring out the water that was in his shirt.  
"Okay…that was fun" he mumbled, brushing his sopping fringe off of his face.  
"No kidding. But I wonder why it died out so fast?" Astrid asked as she squeezed her ponytail dry.  
"Who knows? All I know is I'm not going to complain about it"  
Toothless shivered from the cold and growled, seeming thankful that the ordeal of their "short look" was over. He thought it lucky that the island had been so close by otherwise they may not have even made. Hiccup grinned at his dragon's actions.  
"I hear you, bud, I'm glad it's over too!"  
"I still think it's weird how there's no storm over the island itself…" Astrid commented, looking around the beach. "Except for the clouds, it could easily be a sunny day around here".

The landscape that surrounded them was soon to change the mood one would expect from sunshine. It was surprisingly misty, the thick fog obstructing a lot of the view in front of them. It cast a very glum mood over the area and strange deep sounds were already beginning to echo through the trees to their left. The beach was made out of a very fine sand, no large rocks were in sight. Most likely from storms destroying many of the larger fragments of material, Hiccup thought. As they began to head down the beach, he had to try and keep his prosthetic moving just to stop it from slipping through the ground.  
"What a weird island" Astrid remarked. "Looks like no-one been here in…ever"  
"Well, at least we can finally get around to looking for 'Lout after all that" Hiccup said with a final wring of his shirt.  
"Yeah. Let's see how close this place is to the legend"  
The 3 of them began to search the beach for any clues of Snotlout. Hiccup was sure that his boat wouldn't have been able to take such a storm, which was giving him an awful feeling in his stomach. If they barely made it on the back of a Night Fury, what was to say Snotlout would have fared any better? Astrid could say the same, but was not nearly as worried. The prospect of an adventure on a place that wasn't even thought to exist had her excited to discover more. The trees, the strange weather, the "power" the story spoke of…it fascinated her. Of course, she would have to focus on finding the runaway Snotlout before she could do any of that, but she was at least going to savour the experience.

Toothless was already running along the beach, exploring his new surroundings with interest and curiosity. A large pebble near the sea front caught his eye and he skidded to a halt beside it. No other pebbles were around, so why was this one here? It's surface was smooth and a jet black colour. Just like he was! Intrigued, he gently tapped it with his paw and jumped backwards a foot when it suddenly moved! The pebble began to rock a little as it sprouted legs, beady eyes and a pair of small claws before it began to scuttle off away from him. A very well camouflaged crab, it seemed. Toothless had never seen such a creature before and began to follow the crab along the coastline to see what it did. Whenever he came near it, it would scuttle quicker as if trying to escape. He wasn't going to hurt it, why was it running away? The dragon kept following the crab with interest for a few minutes until he came across an interesting sight that made him forget the crab (and give the crab a chance at escaping the strange, black reptile that was chasing it). A single wooden floating object with a large piece of cloth attached to it, beached on the sand. Not knowing what it was, but thinking it might be of interest to Hiccup, Toothless turned his head and exclaimed out to get his attention. Hiccup looked up from his observations of the beach at Toothless' cry. He picked up his pace along the sand, tapping Astrid on her shoulder as he passed to make her follow him.  
"I think Toothless found something!"  
The two Vikings came up to Toothless as he cocked his head towards the boat. Astrid approached it to get a better look.  
"Well, it's definitely a boat from the village…and it's Snotlout's!" she exclaimed in surprise. But it was the boat's condition that was most confusing. "It's only bumped up a little, only a few scratched on the surface. Even the sail's intact… what in the name of the Gods? How could it get through a storm like that without so much as taking a scratch? Especially when it's being manned by him?"  
"I have no idea. Maybe the storm just wasn't there before?" Hiccup suggested.  
"There's no way a storm that bad could just pop up that quickly!"  
"Granted, but we can figure that out once we've found him. If this is here, he must be further into the island. The wind's probably blown away any sign of footprints or markings…maybe we should look in that forest?"  
Toothless was already ahead of Hiccup, peering his bright green eyes through the mist to try and find any evidence of Snotlout. Suddenly, a rustling from the trees caught his attention and he crouched low to the ground with a snarl before raising his tail to block Hiccup and Astrid from…whatever it was. Hiccup was surprised at Toothless' sudden change in behaviour and gently patted him to keep him calm.  
"Easy, bud, easy…"  
The rustling continued, getting more and more noticeable. The bushes in front of them began to shake and shiver a little. Hiccup and Astrid froze, both nervous and curious as to what could be making the sounds. Toothless growled lowly and kept his stance, ready to pounce on any threat to his human.  
Luckily for them, the rustling was soon explained as a boy suddenly tumbled from the bushes, head over heels, and onto the beach in front of them. He readjusted his helmet with a slight huff and brushed himself off. Looking up at the 3 of them, Snotlout was suddenly overcome with relief.  
"It's you! Thank Thor that it's you…uh…"  
Astrid and Hiccup were not impressed, even Toothless' former angry expression had changed to one of puzzlement. Snotlout was quick to rebuff himself with a clearing of his throat.  
"Well…I see you were brave enough to follow me, eh?" he asked with a triumphant grin.


	3. We're Not Alone

**How To Train Your Dragon:  
Island Of The Storms**

**Chapter 3: We're Not Alone **

"Well, you certainly looked really brave falling out of a bush…" Astrid said with a sigh. Toothless stopped growling and sat back on his hind legs as he moved his tail out of the way for Hiccup and Astrid to approach the runaway Snotlout. Snotlout himself was scowling at Astrid's words.  
"That isn't fair! I tripped over some branch, stupid plant…anyway, why are you two here? Are you seriously the only ones who had the guts to come here too?"  
"Oh, no. We just wanted a change of scenery, a little vacation" Hiccup said sarcastically. "We came looking for you!"  
"You never showed up for training today so we figured you'd have tried to come here. I'm surprised you made it one piece, your ego's going to kill you one day, Snotlout!" Astrid crossly exclaimed. Snotlout seemed genuinely surprised at them. Why were they so angry at him for just going on a little side trip?  
"I don't see what you're so worried about, there was nothing in my way getting here. No storms, no huge waves, it was a bit letdown to be honest!"  
Astrid paused mid-breath in confusion before she started ranting again and lowered her accusing finger. "There wasn't a storm?"  
"Nope, not so much as a strong gust. Made it here in just under half an hour, it was nothing really…"  
Astrid was about to start again to make him shut up until Snotlout suddenly moved up to her side and took her hand with a goofy smile.  
"Anyway, I'm just flattered you came all this way to check on me. You must really care…"  
The punch to Snotlout's face spoke more volumes than any words could. He stumbled to his feet again and rubbed his red-raw cheek.  
"OK, no need to admit it in front of Hiccup, we'll talk about it later…ouch"  
Hiccup couldn't help but laugh to himself at seeing the whole situation. Astrid turned and glared at him, prompting him to quickly shut up and sport an apologetic grin. Astrid marched over to him and started to vent as Snotlout started to get to his feet.  
"Same old 'Lout it seems. Can't he get it through his head that I'm not interested? I like you much more than him anyway"  
Hiccup's blush from the flight resurfaced again.  
"Uh…"  
"Besides, he obviously hasn't done anything that impressive" Astrid continued. "This entire thing was just another ego trip that could have killed him!"  
Snotlout heard her last few words and was quick to object.  
"Relax, I got here OK, didn't I? Besides, I have looked around this place before you say I didn't! There's nothing on this rock! No creatures, no "mystical power", nothing! There wasn't even the bad weather Gobber talked about. It was more of a wasted effort than an ego trip if you ask me…"  
"Ugh, so this was a pointless thing for us too…Hiccup, can we go?"  
Hiccup had disappeared from her side, causing Astrid to spin around to locate him. Her eyes soon rested on him looking at some of the plants at the edge of the beach. Toothless was sat next to him, every bit as curious as his human in looking at the strange foliage.  
"Hiccup! What are you doing?"  
"Oh, uh, just taking a look!" he called back. "These plants aren't on Berk, I thought I should make notes!"  
"This isn't a botany lesson, Hiccup!" she yelled with a hint of annoyance.  
"What's botany?" Snotlout asked. "Is it one of those nerdy things that he likes?"  
"You can stop that before I find a book on it on Berk and it hit you with it!"  
"Whoa, sorry…I'll admit they're weird and "fascinating" to you maybe, but can this wait for another time? I thought we were leaving!" he called over to Hiccup to make sure he heard. Astrid raised an eyebrow at this. Did she detect some anxiousness to leave in Snotlout's voice? With a trace of a grin, she turned to face him.  
"What's the matter 'Lout?" You scared of the creepy fog? Of those weird noises from there, oooooo…"  
Snotlout didn't find her impression of a ghost very funny.  
"N-No! I'm just sick of this place. Nothing to fight, nothing to do...not really of interest to a true Viking" he said with a smile. Astrid rolled her eyes and headed over to Hiccup to see what it was that was so fascinating to him.  
"What _are_ you looking at?"  
"Look at these leaves" Hiccup pointed out. "I've never seen anything like them on Berk…hey, Snotlout, how much of the island did you explore?"  
"A good way into the forest, but not all of it. I thought it was gonna be more of the same stupid plants and beaches"  
Snotlout paused for a second as his gaze was drawn out to sea.  
"Hey, when did that storm brew up?" he said, walking towards the ocean. "That definitely wasn't there when I got here"  
Astrid suddenly remembered her interrupted question of the storm from before and joined Snotlout further down the beach.  
"I was about to ask, how did you get here intact? That thing nearly blew us into the sea more than a few times and, from here, it looks like its getting worse!"  
"It just wasn't there!" Snotlout explained. "The sun was out and everything, I just sailed straight here"  
Hiccup joined them as Toothless occupied himself smelling some of the plants with interest, a grim look on his face.  
"I really don't like the look of that. I don't know if we should risk flying or sailing through it…"  
"Are you serious?" Astrid asked.  
"We're stuck here?" Snotlout said with a hopeless expression  
"Well, at least until that storm clears up. Come on, Astrid, you know how bad it was. We were almost killed! Besides, I don't think Toothless is up for it either"  
The dragon had rejoined Hiccup's side and was eyeing the storm with suspicion and nervousness. That looked even less fun to fly through that before and it only seemed to be getting closer and closer to the island as the wind blew it towards them. But it wasn't just that. There was something wrong about it. It wasn't natural, wasn't right. Something was up with that storm and it gave Toothless a horrible gut feeling. Fortunately, Hiccup seemed to feel the same.  
"Look, until it passes over there's not much more we can do. So, why don't we…"  
BOOM!  
A crash of thunder suddenly sounded out directly above their heads. The group looked up as they saw the clouds begin to change colour in a matter of seconds. Light grey to almost black in an instant, rain was already beginning to spit down on them and Hiccup could tell it would only get worse. A sudden flash made them gasp in surprise and Toothless crouch and whimper quietly at the sky. This was insane, the storm could never have caught up that fast!  
"OK, the weather seems to agree with us not leaving!" Hiccup said, trying to make light of the situation.  
"We need to find a shelter, quickly!" Astrid said, covering her arms as the wind began to pick up. "I can help in that department!" Snotlout said loudly over the increasing noise. "I think that there was something in the forest somewhere. I didn't get a good look at it through all of the trees, but it looked like some sort of cave!"  
"Let's take it" Astrid agreed. "Quickly, before we're drenched!"  
"Wait up!" Snotlout yelled as he sprinted to keep up with the other 3. The storm grew more violent, huge booms of thunder sounding out across the island and the rain hailed down on them just like it had before. Breaking through the trees, the 3 Vikings and their Night Fury companion headed into the unknown forests of the fabled island. None of them seemed to notice the snaking figure eyeing them from in the depths of the forest…

The group continued to run through the forested areas in search of the shelter. Snotlout had managed to get to the front of the group in order to lead them to the area he had seen before. Hiccup ran alongside Toothless, using his dragon as a way to rebalance himself if his leg became caught up in the leaves and vines that covered the forest floor. Astrid glanced behind them and could hear a very odd sound, similar to heavy rainfall but much quieter than usual. It wasn't until she slowed her stride a little to take a better look that she saw it. A literal wall of rain, speeding towards them incredibly quickly. The edge of that particular cloud must've been moving like a thunderbolt from Thor's hammer!  
"Uh, guys?" she called up to the front "You may want to pick up the pace!"  
"Come on, 'Lout, how much further?" Hiccup yelled, almost falling over himself to try and follow Astrid's suggestion. Snotlout peered through the jungle as they continued to run, finally spotting what it was they were looking for. A small opening beneath some strangely curved rocks in a small thicket. It would be cramped but it would be enough to stop them getting soaked by the wall of water.  
"It's small, but I'll take it! Come on!" he yelled. He dived for cover and made sure to make room for the 2 Vikings and their larger friend. Toothless was quick to scramble under as well, the boom of lightning over head making him jump forward as far in as he could to the opening. He struggled to twist around because of his size, but managed to curl around the inside of the rock to make room for Hiccup and Astrid to get in. The 2 in question managed to get in as well, just as the heavens seemed to open up and soak everything in side. The unmistakable patter of the rain on the rock above their heads was the only sound that could be heard as they attempted to catch their breath from the running. Toothless snorted and wrapped his tail around the front of the group to keep them inside the confined space. Hiccup laid back on Toothless' side and began to laugh to himself, causing Astrid to look at him with a puzzled look.  
"What could possibly be funny?"  
"Just…this! I mean, We've never actually _run_ from rain before have we? Back on Berk, we just had to deal with it or we weren't "true Vikings" and all that. Here? We just run into an unexplored island to get away from some falling water"  
"Granted, I suppose" Astrid agreed with a chuckle. Snotlout was peering up at the sky having never seen such a big amount of rain before. It somehow made the storms back home seem a little pathetic.  
"It's weird, I swear it was clear skies when I got here to start with!"  
"Well, they're anything but clear now" Hiccup said observantly "This will at least do for the night"  
"The night? Are you serious?" Snotlout exclaimed.  
"You really think we can explore the island in this? We'll end up getting swamped in mud, water, wind. Not to mention we'll probably all get colds or whatever the heck else could be here"  
"Not likely, you'd probably just get that leg of yours stuck, hehe!"  
"Shut it, 'Lout!" Astrid growled under her breath. "I'm not sure I could take your 'jokes' for a whole night…"  
Another boom of thunder rang out over the island, causing the 3 Vikings to all jump a bit in surprise. Toothless shoved his paws over his ears with an uncomfortable whimper as the crash of the thunder seemed to echo inside the stone that surrounded them. Hiccup notices his friend's distress and gently scratched Toothless' neck to comfort him.  
"You OK, bud? I know, the thunder's much louder than it is in Berk, isn't it?"  
Toothless glanced upwards at his human before lowering his head back down again once another flash of lightning lit up the sky above them.  
"Don't worry, Toothless, we'll be OK. Well, I say 'we'…" he mumbled as he glanced over at Astrid and Snoutlout shoving each other to try and get some more space in which to sleep.

* * *

The sun's light broke through the trees the next morning, some of it falling though the gaps in the rock around them. One of the beams had formed just over Astrid's eye, causing her to stir. She slowly opened her eyes to be greeted with calm, but damp, conditions. The rain must've been going all night. The ground was soggy with mud and the rocks around them had turned a darker shade of grey because of all the water. However, the sun was clearly up and the only clouds that could be seen were of the non-stormy white variety. Astrid yawned and sat up carefully so she wouldn't hit her head on the rock. She groggily glanced over and was surprised to see that Hiccup had vanished. Toothless still lay there, sleeping soundly, but his tamer was nowhere to be seen. Astrid found it strange. He had been beside her all night, she was sure of that, so where had he gone? Perhaps he had just gone to get some food or something…  
Snotlout snored loudly beside her, waking himself up in the process because it was so bad. He sat up quickly and bashed his head on the rock above, causing him to wince and rub his head. Even with a helmet on, it still hurt!  
"Ow…well, that could've been a better night" Snotlout groaned. Astrid huffed at him.  
"Well, you snore like a Gronckle!" she snapped. "Now, where could Hiccup have gone?"  
"Maybe he got swept away in the rain?" Snotlout suggested with a jokey tone. Astrid's scowl was more than enough to tell him to shut up.  
Toothless shifted a little and yawned, slowly opening his eyes to look at his side. He exclaimed in surprise at seeing Hiccup was gone from his side and started to peer out of the rocks to try and find him. Astrid noticed and knelt down beside the Night Fury.  
"Don't worry, Toothless, I'm sure he didn't go far"  
Toothless responded with a half-attempted smile, but was still scanning the forest for any sign of Hiccup. Snotlout yawned again and stood up next to Astrid's crouched figure.  
"The storm's gone at least. Does that mean we can leave now?"  
"Not without Hiccup, we're not" Astrid replied as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I'm gonna go look for him, you do what you like"  
Toothless watched her sprint of into the forest and struggled to get out of the small opening. He finally freed himself and ran after her, eager to find Hiccup as well. That human of his, always getting into trouble it seemed.  
Snotlout watched as well and thought to himself for a moment. Clearly, the idea of coming to this island and making jokes wasn't impressing Astrid a bit. It was time for a rethink of his strategy. Just like Gobber always said, having a plan of action was invaluable to a Viking. Surely the same principle could work here, right? He decided to help find Hiccup to get in her good books again and was quick to run after the girl and the dragon.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, are you here?" Astrid called. Toothless was joining in too, making loud exclamations to get Hiccup's attention. Even Snotlout was shouting out for the Viking.  
"Hiccup, where are you?"  
"Hiccup!"  
Astrid was suddenly reacquainted with him as she rounded a tree, colliding into Hiccup and smashing her head against his. The two of them fell over with an exclamation of "Ouch!" before clambering back up.  
"There you are…" Astrid said, rubbing her head. "Where were you? We just woke up and you were gone"  
Hiccup didn't respond straight away as he was too busy fighting off Toothless trying to lick him as a 'good morning'. When the Night Fury calmed down, he rubbed his head as well before answering.  
"Yeah, sorry about that…I just wanted to check out some more of this place before we left"  
"Could you at least tell us before, though? I was worried…" Astrid said quietly. Hiccup grinned apologetically.  
"Sorry…but I did find something though"  
"Really? What'd you find?" Snotlout asked.  
"Just follow me, you guys have to see it!" Hiccup said, a sudden giddiness having taken him over. As he ran off, Toothless was quick to follow him with playful jumps and Snotlout was suddenly ahead of Astrid.  
"This had better be good to make run first thing on a morning!" he called after Hiccup. With a curious grin, Astrid ran after him as group finally came to a stop in front of what appeared to be a wall of branches and foliage. Hiccup stepped up to it and gently pulled back the plants and stepped through the gap.  
"It's just through here!"

Astrid and Snotlout squeezed their way through too and were greeted with something that did seem to make it worth the running, in Snotlout's opinion. A huge cave-like structure stood in front of them, it's rock gleaming in the sunlight like granite. It seemed to stretch deep into the ground itself forever, the sunlight not even illuminating a few feet inside it. Crystalline objects were all over it's interior, each one multifaceted and seeming to glow with a different shade of colour. Red, blue, green, even purple crystals shone brightly, giving the cave an almost magical aura to it. All of them were entranced by the light for a moment before Snotlout finally spoke up.  
"Wow…now THAT is awesome"  
"By Odin's ghost…" Astrid murmured. "It's beautiful"  
"I know" Hiccup replied. "I'm not how we could've missed it the first time"  
Toothless carefully walked towards one of the larger crystals for a closer look. Peering at is closer, he could see many small versions of Night Furies in the crystal's surface. Since when did his species only grow to such a small size? It made the Terrible Terrors look positively huge. Puzzled by it, he moved in closer and saw that the other Night Furies got closer too. He tried moving to the left, they did the same. He closed one eye, they did the same. What sort of magic was this? Hiccup approached the same crystal and chuckled at Toothless' actions.  
"Relax, Toothless, it's just you. See?". Hiccup pointed to the reflections and even pointed out his own to show that it was just a normal thing. Toothless was not fully convinced and kept trying movements of his head to see whether these other dragons were capable of anything else but copying him. Hiccup crouched down beside the crystal and took out his notebook, beginning to sketch one of the crystals down.  
"What do you suppose made it?" Snotlout asked after some silence.  
"I dunno…maybe it's part of what the founders thought was the "mystical power" of the island" Hiccup suggested.  
"Well, it's pretty, but I wouldn't say it's particularly powerful looking" Snotlout said with a raised eyebrow. Astrid looked down at Hiccup's doodlings with interest.  
"What're you doing?"  
"Making notes about this. If this really is what the founders saw, I want to make sure we have some proof of it this time"  
Hiccup stood up carefully and began to slowly step further into the cave.  
"Come on, there's time to check inside!"  
"Hiccup, we have no idea what's in there!"  
"Relax, Astrid, it's only a cave. What's the worst that could…"

RRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAWWWRRRR!

A deafening sound echoed around the walls tenfold around Hiccup's head as it bellowed from the darkness of the inner cave, just as he took another step further inwards. All 4 of them cringed at the sound, it's sheer volume physically hurting their heads. Astrid covered her ears whilst Snotlout tried to force his helmet further down over his head to block it out. Hiccup cringed and stumbled over to a log nearby the cave just to get away from the awful sound, using Toothless to keep his balance. It wasn't even a thought process to guess what was making it, all Hiccup could think was to get away from it. As the savage roar finally died away, Snotlout rubbed his temples in pain.  
"OK…what the heck was that? I've never heard anything like it…"  
"Me either…oooh, my head…" Astrid groaned. Hiccup joined in the moaning as well as Toothless stayed by his side. The Night Fury was looking around in alert, growling softly with his teeth exposed at whatever had hurt Hiccup. As Hiccup was about to question his dragon's behaviour, a sinister hiss could be heard circling around them in the bushes. Snotlout looked around with nervous gasps at the snapping of twigs and rustling that began to sound out around them. Astrid immediately readied herself for a fight, shifting her eyes amongst anything that made a suspicious sound. A branch suddenly snapped off to the group's right, causing Toothless to shift towards the noise with his tail blocking off the group as he snarled at the noise to make it back off.  
And then, there was nothing. Such a contrast to the previous din, the forest had gone silent. Not so much as a gust of wind or a tree creaking could be heard. Everything was deathly still, casting a tension over the group. Whatever had made the noise was gone, but the feeling of it coming back was present in everyone.  
"I don't think this island is as deserted as we think…" Astrid whispered.  
"Shhh!" Snotlout spat out. "Can you hear that?"  
A low growling was behind them, followed by a sinister hiss and the awful feeling the 3 Vikings got when they noticed a dark shadow being cast over them. Snotlout gulped.  
"Please tell me that's the Night Fury…"  
"Oh, this can't end well…" Hiccup said. He glanced at Astrid cursing under her breath for not bringing her axe before she looked at him with a look of dread on her face. With a small nod, they all began to turn round to face their terroriser.  
They immediately regretted it.

* * *

The creature's head was attached to a long neck, with sharp spikes covering most of it's face. It's snarling mouth had spirals of teeth around it and even the entire inside, like a tunnel of pointy white. It's snake like body curled and twisted around downed trees and foliage like a vine and it glared at them with a savage snarl. It's eyes were bright yellow and narrowed to black lines, it's features twisted into an expression of anger. Hiccup knew what it was immediately.  
"A Whispering Death…"  
Toothless growled and jumped in between the larger dragon and the 3 Vikings, growling defensively. Whatever this creature was, it was not going to get to Hiccup. He'd make sure of that. Setting one of his claws forward, Toothless was ready to pounce in case the Whispering Death tried to attack. The larger dragon responded by snarling at the Night Fury, switching it's gaze between Toothless and the other Vikings. Whoever these creatures were, they were not welcome on this island.  
Astrid titled her head towards Hiccup, her eyes never leaving the creature before her.  
"A what?" she asked.  
"From the dragon manual, a Whispering Death. It's said that it can only whisper or hiss and chew you even after it's swallowed you because it's countless sharp teeth. This may be a bit of a problem…"  
"If that book's true, then why is it snarling at us?" Snotlout whimpered. The Whispering Death responded with a particular vicious growl, snaking it's head at different angles to get a better look at the 3 tiny humans before it. Hiccup did find it strange that this dragon was not acting as the book had claimed it would. An theory quickly formed in his head.  
"It's just angry. We need to let it know we're not a threat. Maybe I can.." Hiccup pondered. He suddenly started to take cautious steps forward, causing Astrid to glare at him in surprise.  
"Hiccup! What are you doing?" she whispered through gritted teeth. "We can't deal with that thing, we need to get out of here!"  
"This thing's clearly more aggressive than what the manual has written down! It's already angry enough, running will only make it worse!"  
"What are you going to do? This isn't one of the dragons from the village, Hiccup!"  
"Hey, can I just make a quick suggestion?" Snotlout whispered. "Stop talking about it and RUN!"  
"Shut up, 'Lout!" Astrid hissed.  
The Whispering Death responded to the humans annoying noise with another snarl. Toothless stepped forward again with his own threatening growl, his eyes narrowed to slits against his green irises.  
"Easy, Toothless, easy…let me try, alright?" Hiccup said, keeping his voice in a calm tone to try and keep the larger adversary at bay. The Whispering Death looked down at the small boy, eyeing him with a warning growl. Hiccup was starting right back at it, nerves making him physically shake a little as he stepped closer and closer. But he had handled so many dragons by now with no injury or attack before, why should this one be any different?  
Well, aside from the fact that it had never been successfully taken down by a Viking, yet alone tamed.  
The Whispering Death eventually stopped hissing, instead choosing to growl with suspicion. What was this creature doing? He wasn't trying to kill it like most other Vikings would and it was even more suspicious that he wasn't even carrying a weapon.  
"Hey, its okay. Take it easy, it's gonna be alright…I'm not gonna hurt you" Hiccup said with a soothing tone.  
Toothless looked at his human with a worried expression. Hiccup was risking himself just to keep the rest of them safe. If anything, it was Toothless' job to keep them safe, especially in a situation such as this. Nonetheless, the Night Fury kept his stance, ready to attack in case the larger dragon chose to lunge.  
Unfortunately, that's what it did.


	4. Disaster

**How To Train Your Dragon:  
Island Of The Storms**

**Chapter 4: Disaster**

**WARNING: Contains some strong violence**

Deeming Hiccup's actions to be a ruse, the Whispering Death suddenly shot forwards, it's mouth open in a roar. Hiccup immediately jumped backwards, his eyes wide at seeing the sheer number of teeth lining the inside of it's jaw. So many teeth, so many things to cut and slash you with if you were caught in it's bite…  
Toothless instinctively roared and jumped in front of his rider with his wings extended, attempting to make himself look larger and more menacing. Although the Night Fury was doing a good job of keeping the huge foe away from Hiccup, the boy couldn't help but exclaim at seeing it's repeated attempts to snap at him, even with Toothless in the way.  
"Oh, Odin's ghost!" he yelled. "That did not go well!"  
"You think?" Astrid shouted, grabbing Hiccup by the scuff of his shirt and pulling him to his feet. "We need to move!"  
Hiccup struggled against her grip, trying to tell Toothless to move. The Night Fury was snarling aggressively at the larger dragon and getting ready to lunge himself to throw off their attacker.  
"Toothless! Don't do it! We need to go!"  
Toothless didn't listen. He had to make sure this thing didn't hurt Hiccup. He pounced and managed to slash the larger dragon in the side of it's jaw, deep red marks being cut into it's scales. The Whispering Death did not take kindly to Toothless' attempts to fight back, reconcentrating it's efforts of getting Hiccup to killing the Night Fury. It started to try and snap at Toothless' hide, missing by mere inches as the more able of the two kept avoiding it's strikes. Toothless suddenly pounced again, digging his teeth into the tiny wings of the Whispering Death. Even dragons knew that they were goners without their wings and Toothless planned to exploit it. The Whispering Death would not be able to recover from this. His chewed, clawed and ripped as the larger dragon roared in rage and pain, blood beginning to splatter on the ground and spurt from the wounds and onto Toothless' jaws. Hiccup had never seen such violence between dragons before. Even when Toothless had fought against the Monstrous Nightmare, he had fought it off without so much as a cut. He was almost entranced by it, seeing his friend transformed into this machine of combat. It terrified him, everything about the sight made him want to forget running and try to stop it.  
"Astrid, let me go! I have to stop it!"  
"We'll be dead if we try! We have to move, NOW!" she screamed, physically pulling at Hiccup to head towards the beach. Defiantly, Hiccup tried to fight back, walking against Astrid's pulling. Quickly glancing back, he could already see Snotlout running for his life towards the beach, screaming in terror. Quickly putting it out of his mind, and still trying to break free, he cried out in frustration.  
Toothless heard his human's outburst and jumped off from the Whispering Death's back, the blood still continuing to spill onto the ground from is bites. He turned to Hiccup and crooned loudly, telling him to get out of here, to stay safe. Hiccup knew what Toothless was trying to say and finally started to stop his resistance even if a little bit. The Whispering Death however had been counting on a distractions such as this. Furious as the injuries the Night Fury had made to his wings, it raised it's body upwards like a serpent, jaws outstretched with a mighty roar. Hiccup's eyes grew wide at it, even Astrid turned back to see what had stopped his struggling.  
"Toothless, behind you!" he yelled in desperation. Toothless was taken aback by his friend's warning, beginning to turn around just as his enemy struck.

The rows of teeth surrounding the Whispering Death's mouth hit their mark. They effortlessly cut through the black scales and skin, the familiar taste of a fellow dragon's blood splashing against his tongue. The Whispering Death's jaw clamped down onto the back of Toothless' neck with incredible force, sending a spray of crimson onto the tough ground beneath their feet. Crunching and tearing of muscle and bone could be heard echoing around the open forest as Toothless' neck was cut open easily by the larger dragon, his dark red blood continuing to splatter onto the ground in horrible patterns and shapes. The Whispering Death almost seemed to have a hint of smile in his bite, clamping down harder with his jaws and eliciting more howls from his victim.  
But that wasn't what had horrified Hiccup so much. Despite his best friend's blood covering his shoes, the sound of Toothless' very being getting ripped apart and the warmth he could feel on his clothes from the violence, it was what his friend's reaction to it was that had him struck with a horrible wrenching feeling in his gut.  
Toothless' eyes were wide with panic, his mouth open in sheer pain and shock horror. His roar was not so much a roar, but almost a shriek, a sound that Hiccup could liken to a scream of agony and surprise and wanted to shut out in any way he could. Toothless was still trying to fight off his attacker with sudden and frantic movements, only serving to make his injuries worse. Even as the blood began to run down his own neck, Toothless' eyes were staring directly at Hiccup, piercing right into him with an expression that only seem to say one thing to the Viking.

_"Help me, Hiccup! Help!"_

Even Astrid was horrified by what she was seeing. Both by the gruesome sight before her but also Hiccup. He was being crushed by it, she could almost feel his heart breaking at seeing his friend being so badly hurt. But she knew they had to leave before the dragon tried to do the same thing to them. She also knew that Hiccup was too overcome with his emotions to leave and that caused him to struggle even further.  
"TOOTHLESS! Astrid, let me GO! NOW! TOOTHLESS!"  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry Hiccup!" Astrid said, having to fight back tears at having to drag him away. "But we have to go!"  
Astrid finally won out in strength, dragging Hiccup along with her back to the beach. Even from here, she could make out roars of pain and attack, the unmistakable sound of burning wood from a dragon's fire from behind her. Hiccup was still trying to undo her grip, watching as Toothless finally managed to free himself from the bite. And yet, he was still fighting back, attempting to start clawing at the Whispering Death's eyes with the same determination as he had shown countless times before. But the wounds on his neck still looked severe, even from this distance, and they were still spurting blood onto the ground. Hiccup could only watch as his dragon was starting to waver in his attempts to avoid another hit, his movements becoming more sluggish by the second.  
He was losing. Toothless needed his help. Or he would…no, Hiccup wouldn't let that happen! He couldn't…  
"He needs me! I can't leave him!" Hiccup cried in an almost horror-struck rage, tears beginning to blur his vision.  
"You go back there and the only thing you'll do is get torn apart yourself!"  
"No, I can save him! Let me GO!"

"Oh, no….oh, no, no, no, no, no, no…"  
Astrid had finally dragged Hiccup to the beach and had turned her head to see a panicking Snotlout at the water's edge.  
"What? What happened?"  
"My boat! It's gone! The storm must've carried it off when it hit the island!"  
"You didn't tie it up?" Astrid yelled in frustration. She continued to pull Hiccup further along the beach and had to hold him down to stop him from up and running back into the forest.  
"Astrid…stop, let me go back…" Hiccup panted from his struggling. Astrid finally let him go and exhaled sharply before she kneeled beside him with a look of regret on her features.  
"I'm sorry Hiccup…but there wasn't anything you could've done. We'll just have to wait…"  
"Wait? Astrid, he's saved my life before and I've saved his. I am not going to stop now!"  
"Hiccup, please! We need to get help, you couldn't take on something that big by yourself!"  
"Toothless could be _dying_ back there!"  
"You could end up dying along with him if you go! You think I find it easy to drag you away from something like that?" she suddenly snapped. "I can only imagine what it feels like and I know it's tough…but I'd rather deal with one loss than two, alright?"  
Hiccup had no response. He knew in his head that Astrid was right, but his heart kept telling him to go back, to save his friend. He punched the ground in anger with an exclamation. So many scenarios started to run through his mind. But the only one that scared him was the one where Toothless never emerged from those trees again. The roars could still be heard in the background and Hiccup could only guess which dragon was making them.  
And then, just like the way the storm had disappeared when they had first arrived, there was nothing. Nothing except the light breeze of the air and the waves that lapped at the shoreline. The former howls he could hear before as he was being dragged through the trees had gone. The large dragon definitely hadn't chased them when they had fled, so Toothless must've been able to hold it off. Did that mean it was over? If it was, had Toothless got away? Had he even…survived?

* * *

"Hey…hey, look over there!"  
Astrid turned her gaze to Snotlout to see what it was he was shouting about.  
"What is it, 'Lout?"  
"Can you see them! Look, ships! There are ships coming!"  
Astrid gazed out to sea to try and find the ships he was talking about. To her delight, she recognised the outlines of the vessels, even from here.  
"Those sails…they're from Berk! They're from the village!"  
Suddenly, a rustling could be heard from the bushes, much larger than the various rustlings they had all heard before. Hiccup's heart stopped as he jerked his head up. Had the Whispering Death found them? Or had Toothless managed to get away from it?  
"What was that?" Snotlout whimpered from behind them.  
"Back up, 'Lout…" Astrid replied "It could be that other dragon"  
"Or Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed, suddenly springing to his feet and running towards the trees. Astrid gasped in surprise and gave chase.  
"Hiccup, get back! Snotlout, get the ships' attention! We'll need their help!"  
Hiccup was not going to wait for some boats to turn up before he did something, he needed to be sure his friend was alright. He had to. Despite Astrid's cries for him to stop, Hiccup kept running, even with his prosthetic leg slipping into the sand as he pushed forwards. However, as he neared the bushes, he found himself slowing in his run. What would he do when he broke through the plants in his path? What if he was charging right towards the monster that had tried to attack them? Astrid was probably right in her thinking, but how could they be sure?

Thankfully, Odin seemed to be watching over them all as the rustling suddenly ceased and the thing causing it broke out from the bushes. Hiccup suddenly broke into an ear-to-ear grin, forgetting the sights that had caused such distress before, as Toothless finally emerged from the forest, taking slow steps forward towards his rider.  
"Toothless! See, I told you he'd be OK!"  
Astrid breathed her own sign of relief at seeing the Night Fury appear. A much more positive sight than an angry Whispering Death, that was for sure. But as she continued to watch, her smile began to fade. Something was wrong. Toothless was swaying a little as he walked, his eyes were drooping and his usual energy had been replaced with sluggish movements. Astrid then became alarmed as she spotted dark red dripping from the dragon's neck and staining the sand he walked over. Hiccup noticed it as well, just as the colour drained from his face when his best friend collapsed with a painful cry.  
"Toothless!"  
Hiccup sprinted forward as hard as he could in determination to reach the Night Fury. Sand flew up around his feet as he skidded to a halt besides Toothless. Kneeling down to assess the damage, Hiccup gasped in shock. The wounds were very severe and still bleeding, his very touch near them making Toothless wince. The Whispering Death had also slashed into his left front paw and the bite marks spoke for themselves about how violent it's attacks had been. Toothless whimpered in pain as Hiccup tried to do something to stop the bleeding. But seeing his friend like this was making it difficult to concentrate, his tears from before now starting to run down his face. What would they do if they couldn't get any help?  
"E-easy buddy…" Hiccup stammered as Toothless crooned in pain. "It's gonna be OK, a-alright?"  
Hiccup kept trying to press his hands on the wounds to help, but hesitated from doing it fully so that he wouldn't hurt Toothless. Frustrated and desperate for something to work, Hiccup turned back to Astrid who was still watching the sight with anxious eyes.  
"Astrid, please! I need help!"  
She hesitated in an answer, unsure of what to say.  
"Astrid, _help me!_"  
"Snotlout! How far are those ships?"  
"They're not far, I think they've seen us!" he responded, attempting to jump around and shout to let them know where they were. "Hey, over here! We're over here! Come on!"  
"Make sure they get here!" Astrid called as she ran over to Hiccup's side. He was desperately trying to cover all of Toothless' wounds with his hands alone, occasional exclamations of his frustration escaping his lips whenever another spurt of blood escaped his fingers. Astrid gently placed a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.  
"They're on their way, Hiccup, we'll get him home"  
"I should've been there…" he murmured, stroking Toothless' head to keep him calm.  
"What?"  
"I should've been there! If I had been there to help, he could've flown circles around that dragon! Instead, I had to run and leave him!"  
"Hiccup, even if you were there, what could you have done? That thing would've just gone for you because you were an easier target. If anything, Toothless saved your life!"  
Hiccup paused for a moment before looking at her dead in the eye.  
"And now, I have to save his…I almost killed him when I shot him down before, I'm not going to be the one who lets him die for real!"  
Toothless whimpered again and his eyes began to droop and close. Hiccup suddenly became alarmed and tried to get his dragon's attention.  
"Hey, Toothless, hey! Come on, stay with me buddy! It'll be just a little longer, hang on…"  
Astrid could see tears still falling from Hiccup's eyes. It was crushing him inside, even she could see that. But Toothless noticed as well and attempted to shift his position a little despite his pain. He managed to nuzzle his rider's hand to try and stop his crying. Toothless never liked it when Hiccup was sad. Even if he was as hurt as he was, the Night Fury didn't want to see a sad Hiccup. But a smiling one, a positive one, even the one that came out with the standard dry humour. With an encouraging growl, Toothless would do his best to stay awake. At least until his rider had ceased his tears.  
Hiccup appreciated the gesture, a trace of a smile forming upon his lips through his sobs. But even Toothless' positive nature to something which could end up killing him wasn't doing much to calm Hiccup's nerves. A sudden outburst from behind them signalled to them that Snotlout had succeeded in his mission to get some attention.  
"They're here! They've found us!"

* * *

Both Hiccup and Astrid looked up to see the mighty ships of Berk approaching the shoreline, their sails fully extended to make advantage of the strong winds. Groups of Vikings and villagers began to jump from the decks with blankets, provisions, things their missing young neighbours may need. Hiccup even spotted Gobber jumping into the sea and marching his way through the water to reach them  
"Look, buddy, help's here! You're gonna be OK, you hear me? You're gonna make it"  
Toothless attempted to tilt his head towards the approaching crowd but the action itself sent pain shooting through his neck. He quickly rested his head back down with another whimper. He was so tired, he didn't even have to energy to look anymore. And, even though he'd promised his rider to stay awake, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open.  
Suddenly, Hiccup could hear someone running towards him through the water towards the beach with a voice he could easily recognise.  
"There you are, Snotlout! About time we found you...where's Hiccup?"  
Still keeping his now blood drenched hands firmly pressed on Toothless' neck, Hiccup looked up to the figure and yelled.  
"Dad!"  
Stoick turned from Snotlout at the cry and began to run up the beach towards his son. As Gobber had said, he must've become worried when they didn't return. Stoick came to a halt by Hiccup and knelt beside him.  
"Hiccup! Thank the gods you're alright. I see that your passion for making trouble hasn't…"  
Stoick was cut off in mid-sentence at the sight around him. Hiccup was covered in blood, his clothes stained a deep red from the sheer amount and his son had tears forming in his bloodshot eyes and falling to the ground.  
"By Thor, Hiccup! What happened? Are you OK? Are you hurt? Did you…"  
"No, Dad, no! I'm fine! There's a Whispering Death in that forest and it tried to attack us and…"  
"A Whispering Death? Do you know how lucky you are? Even you can't tame something like that!"  
"Dad, please! Toothless tried to fight it off and protect me and he ended up getting in a fight! We need to get home!"  
Stoick was too busy making sure his son was safe, checking his body over for any cuts or injuries.  
"Are you sure you're alright? Do you need anything? Perhaps!"  
"DAD!"  
Hiccup's sudden outburst made Stoick stop and stare and his son raised his hands towards him.  
"This is not my blood! It's from Toothless! He was almost _killed_ back there trying to save ME! I can't lose him, I can't that happen Dad, please…we have to get him home or…"  
Stoick's expression turned softer. He knew his son cared a great deal for this dragon, but he never could have guessed the bond went that deep. He also knew that should that dragon die, Hiccup would never forgive himself for letting it happen. It would destroy him and Stoick couldn't bear to see that happen. With a firm hand on his son's shoulder, Stoick gave a nod before turning and calling out to the other Vikings for help.  
"We have wounded over here! I need more men to help! Get over here, now!"  
A group of Stoick's men heard the call and began to push their ship further up the beach so that the distance was shorter. Once their vessel was in place, the Vikings hurried their way towards the downed Night Fury and got into a position to lift Toothless. With the group of 4 each taking a limb and Stoick taking the main body, the Vikings all heaved upwards. Toothless suddenly howled in agony, his burning limbs not taking kindly to the treatment.  
"Be careful! Don't hurt him…" Hiccup exclaimed. Stoick glanced back at his son and motioned to his men to take it a little more gently. Despite the more calm approach, Toothless still crooned in pain with every slight step the Vikings made towards their ship. Hiccup was by his side in an instant, gently stroking Toothless' head to keep him calm.  
"I'm sorry, buddy, I know it hurts. We're gonna get you home…"  
Astrid watched from the main deck of the ship, feeling a strange mixture of pride and admiration for Hiccup. Seeing someone so determined to keep their best friend safe was someone who she could respect and trust. With a slight smile on her face, she hurried around the boat, ordering the other Vikings to make a space and prepare bandages and other medical items.

It took a gruelling 10 minutes to get the dragon onto the ship, but the task was finally done. Toothless was placed gently down onto the wooden deck at the far end of the ship, Hiccup's constant reassurances only causing him to growl in discomfort. But, whether it was truly Hiccup or just the loss of blood leaving him without the energy to exclaim his pain could not be decided. Stoick stared out over the land as their ships began to cast off. It was now obvious why this place had never been kept as a record in the Viking archives. Something was wrong with it and the faint roars he could make out only made that conclusion stronger. Satisfied that they had done their work, Stoick turned back to his men operating their vessel.  
"Alright, cast us off! Head for home!"  
Hiccup was sat by Toothless near the back of the ship, still trying to do something about his dragon's wounds. Although the bleeding had slowed considerably, the amount of blood Toothless had lost only made him thank Odin that the bites didn't go any deeper. One more inch and who knows what could've happened? Astrid and Snotlout slowly walked towards him, seeing at how busy he was trying to cope with the injured Night Fury. They quietly sat beside him as he continued to fumble with the limited bandages they had onboard. Snotlout spoke up after some initial silence.  
"Hiccup...uh, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. It's my fault in the first place trying to come to this place to impress you all, but now your dragon's gotten all beat up because of it"  
"I don't blame you..." Hiccup replied, surprising both Snotlout and Astrid. "Mistakes were made, can't change them now. All that matters right now is making sure Toothless even makes it back to Berk..."  
Astrid saw the uncertainty in Hiccup's eyes as he responded. Even he was beginning to lose confidence in Toothless even surviving the trip. But looking down at the dragon in question still have her reason to hope. Toothless was still gently nuzzling Hiccup's hand whenever it was free to prove to him that he was still conscious and fighting. Astrid gradually shuffled her way up towards Hiccup and gave him a quick hug around his shoulders.  
"You were really brave, you know that?"  
"In what way was I brave?"  
"You were willing to risk it all for him" she answered. "That's more brave than most of the other Vikings here"  
Her comment got a weak smile from Hiccup before he quickly shook his head and got back to work.

Gobber was watching the sight from a distance. In his many years of being a Viking, he'd thought he'd seen a lot in his time. Dragons made from bone, more varieties of hammerhead animals than could be believed, that sort of thing. But seeing a boy have so much care for a beast that was capable of such destruction was one of the things he hadn't. Especially if the boy in question was someone like Hiccup. But, even from this distance, the Night Fury's attempts to stay conscious seemed to be failing and the wounds looked more sever than he had imagine. Stoick noticed Gobber's intent watching and joined his side, eager to know his opinion on it all.  
"Do you think the dragon will make it?"  
"Hard to tell" Gobber replied. "I've only read about what a Whispering Death can do to a person and the cuts alone look very deep. But it's a strong fighter, this one…"  
"Meaning?" asked Stoick.  
"We'll just have to see, it's anyone's guess"  
Gobber sighed and began to walk over to the group at the back with a handful of extra bandages. As he approached, he took a seat next to his workshop apprentice with an extended arm and a smile.  
"How's he doin', Hiccup?"  
"He's hurt pretty bad…" Hiccup answered before murmuring so quietly that Gobber almost didn't hear him. "Gotta get this bleeding stopped...gotta get it stopped…"  
With an encouraging look, Gobber placed the bundle of fresh bandages next to Hiccup's leg.  
"Well, my old stories do cause a bit of trouble, don't they?" he joked, trying to lighten the glum mood of the group.  
"Yeah, just a little bit. May want to consider telling stories about squirrels or mice for a while so no one else tries to go off and get themselves killed"  
"Ah, there's the Hiccup I remember" Gobber chuckled. "Don't worry about it, lad, we're almost there"  
As Gobber got up to leave, Hiccup noticed the same uncertainty in his look as he could feel in his heart at that moment.  
'Even Gobber doesn't think we'll make it either…' he thought to himself. But no, he would make sure his friend made it back to Berk. With a shake of his head, Hiccup got back to work on wrapping up the wounds. Toothless kept whimpering with every touch, even more so when Hiccup had to tighten the bandage around it with a sudden movement of his hands. Through every wince and flinch, Hiccup kept speaking reassurance to his friend with an almost religious devotion. But even he found himself slowing a little as he was forced to show more and more concentration to just keeping Toothless awake rather than wrapped up in bloodied cloth. How much longer was it going to take?

They were running out of time.


End file.
